1. O friends, the quetzal bird sings, it sings its song at midnight to Cinteotl.

2. The god will surely hear my song by night, he will hear my song as the day begins to break.

3. I send forth the priests to the house of Tlaloc.

4. The priests to the house of Tlaloc do I send forth.

5. I shall go forth, I shall join myself unto them, I shall go where is Cinteotl, I shall follow the path to him.

6. The priests go forth to the house of Tlaloc, to the home of the gods of the plain.

Notes.

Xochipilli, "lord of flowers," otherwise named Macuilxochitl, "five flowers" (the name of a small odorous plant), was the deity who gave and protected all flowering plants. As one of the gods of fertility and production, he was associated with Tlaloc, god of rains, and Cinteotl, god of maize. His festival is described in Sahagun (Historia, Lib. I., cap. 14).

2. Cipactonalla, from cipactli, and tonalli, may refer to Cipactonal, the reputed discoverer of the Aztec calendar. See Sahagun, Historia, Lib. IV., cap. i.